Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

All about Us by Tom Ellen

4 reviews

mrsdarcylynn's review against another edition

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lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Excellent premise, but the delivery didn’t quite do it for me. The beauty of a Christmas Carol is how punchy it is (plus Scrooge can’t interact with the world). It was hard watching a replay of a sad sacks life. I also felt unsatisfied with the main character’s journey through losing his mom. 
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elenatamsen's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Cute retelling of A Christmas Carol. I was impressed by the depth of emotions covered in this book.
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joneva's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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that_bookish_steph's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

 
Your life is the decisions you make.


When we first meet Ben it's Christmas Eve. He's meeting his mate in a pub for a pint (he's British! I can't say he's meeting a friend in bar for a beer in my flat midwestern accent. It would ruin whole vibe!) and he's down in the dumps. Ben's wife Daphne has gone to her work holiday party without him, their marriage on the rocks.

Ben seems to be at some sort of crossroads or early mid-life crisis and finds himself wondering what if he had hooked up with his uni friend Alice instead of his now wife Daphne that one fateful night. Would his life be better?

And then some creepy dude tries to sell him a watch, Ben declines, but the man leaves a non-working watch behind anyway and the rest is history - Ben's history, because once the clock strikes 11:59 pm on Christmas Eve night Ben awakes back in time and begins reliving notable moments from his past beginning with the night he first kissed Daphne.

What begins to unfold through this hindsight is a wider perspective on what has shaped Ben to the person he is in present day.

I really enjoyed this fun, emotional story filled with Christmas magic and the spirit of the holidays. It's a little bit A Christmas Carol, some It's a Wonderful Life, plus a dash of Groundhog Day, and even has some fun pop culture references throughout. The perfect December read. 
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